//------------------------------//
// Controlled Burn 
// Story: Hot Dragon Inaction 
// by SilverNotes 
//------------------------------//

When Rarity showed up, Ember was impressed. It'd been exactly two hours after her own arrival that the door opened, the bell chimed, and a melodious voice rung out with the words, "I have returned, darlings!"

The latest story of childhood pranks went on hold as Sandbar and Yona got up to greet their boss, and Ember followed just until the doorway of the room, so she could look at the pony currently on the sales floor. She caught a glimpse of the correct gemstone image on her flank, and patted herself on the back for having remembered not only the right name and symbol combo, but having been right about her being a unicorn, and not green.

There was a flurry of conversation between the three of them, and Ember fought not to tap her foot with impatience as they did so. She couldn't appear too in a hurry. She had to be polite about things, and let Rarity catch up with her employees, as much as part of her wanted to grab the mare and shake her until romantic advice fell out.

Her patience paid off, as the pleasantly smiling face, framed by a grey-streaked purple mane, turned to look at her. "My, Dragon Lord Ember! To what do I owe this honour?"

(Grey streaks... those were a sign of age in mammals, weren't they?

How old was Rarity?

How long did ponies live?)

She smiled back. "Just Ember. I'm in town for a couple of days to see Spike, but I had a little time before we meet up, and I remembered that you used to work here, so... I came for a chat."

Rarity's ears twitched, seemingly in thought, but smile only grew brighter. "Then I'll count us both lucky that my own plans had me coming home to Ponyville. I hope you haven't been kept long?"

Ember gave a nonchalant wave of her claws. "I had good company."

There was a bob of a dual-horned head. "Yona tell Ember about first Amity Ball."

Rarity immediately flinched. "Oh yes... that... lovely little adventure."

"And the brussel sprouts. And the dance lessons. And the--"

"Splendid!" A grimace of a smile accompanied hasty hooves. "Then, if you'd like to start your evening early, I can look after the boutique and our guest myself. For old time's sake."

Neither of the young couple protested that, and Ember was soon following Rarity back into the sitting room.

Hopefully she'd made the right choice on where to look for advice, because time was nearly up.





"So, Ember dear, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

For a lot of creatures, another pot of tea would have them hopping from foot to foot looking for the little creature's room. Dragons' metabolisms were slightly different, which was unfortunate, because she couldn't use it as the excuse for why she was squirming so much under the gentle, patient gaze of the unicorn across from her. Something about Rarity had her immediately nervous, though she couldn't quite put her claw on why.

"Well..." She took a breath, and took the plunge into the conversational lava. "You've known Spike a long time, right?"

That earned a fond smile, and brief wave of a hoof. "Not as long as Twilight, but yes, I've known him since he was a tiny little Spikey-Wikey."

A slow blink, and a small snicker. "...He let you call him Spikey-Wikey?"

"He still does, with a few token protests. He knows it's affectionate." Rarity gave a small titter. "Once he outgrew his little drakehood crush, I think he accepted that I saw him a lot like a younger sibling, and was going to keep heaping the mildly-embarrassing nicknames on him no matter how old he grew."

There was no spit take this time. That would have involved breathing.

Instead, Rarity saw her owlish stare and tilted her head. "Did he never tell you he used to have a crush on me?"

Ember shook her head, as her lungs remembered what they were for. "Can't... say it ever came up." She stared down at her teacup. "So... he likes ponies, huh?"

Rarity hummed thoughtfully. "I think it would be safer to say that he liked me, and I happened to be a pony. He's rather blind to species, in my experience."

"...Experience?" It was about all she had words for, now that her mind was going all kinds of places it hadn't before. She hadn't considered the idea that he might already have someone, and was mentally kicking herself hard enough to send herself soaring right back into her cave.

"He's had fleeting interests," Rarity obligingly answered, "Nothing lasting. But it does run the gamut. Griffons, changelings... Spikey-Wikey has a talent for seeing beauty in all sorts of places."

But possibly not in other dragons. "No one right now, though?"

"Not that I'm aware of, though he doesn't always tell me about them. I think he's still a trace embarrassed about how he acted toward me as a youngster." She shrugged, and then Ember found herself under a slightly stronger stare. Still patient, still kind, still friendly, and yet somehow stripping her of her thick-scaled defenses like cracking open a geode. "Now, rather than beating around the bush... why don't you tell me why you're asking about Spike? And his love life in particular."

Ember stared back across the table, considered the wrinkles at the corners of gentle eyes and curls decorated with grey, and made a choice. She told her everything, from the tense picnic, to her soul searching in flight, to her decision to come here, and why. She swept past the conversation with Yona and Sandbar some, mostly due to Rarity hastening her the moment brussel sprouts came up again, but otherwise spared no detail.

"I see." Rarity eyed Ember for a long moment. "Would you like a brutally honest opinion, darling?"

"Sure." She shrugged, and pushed away her tea cup. It was too cold now, anyway. "I don't think my ego can get any more chewed up than it already is."

"I think you're making this much more complicated than it needs to be." When Ember opened her mouth to protest, Rarity's hoof went up. "You've just realized that you have some attraction toward a friend. And that is indeed terribly awkward to experience. Downright mortifying. But the only way to know if it can go anywhere is to, as dear Rainbow Dash would say, shoot your shot."

"But I have no idea if this is real or--"

"Nopony--" Rarity paused, cleared her throat. "Ahem, sorry, I still occasionally slip. What I mean to say is, no one knows if their feelings are 'real' when they're still locked up inside. The point of asking another creature out is to explore the feelings and find out together."

"But I don't even know if he has any."

"Again, that is why we ask. The worst he can say is no." She smiled gently. "If my friendship with him survived a crush, Ember, so can yours."

"But... he's..."

Rarity raised a hoof, causing the sputtering to silence, and when she spoke, her voice was even gentler. "May I ask you a delicate question, Ember?"

She heaved a sigh, gesturing in the air. "Go ahead."

There was a pause as she seemed to be hunting for the right words. "The reactions you described yourself having. The position of your spines, the increase in body temperature... Those are involuntary, correct?"

There was an immediate surge of heat. This one was much more localized, however, being entirely centered on her face. "Well, I mean. I uh. I can make them stop if I concentrate enough--"

Voice still soft, still gentle. "That's not what I asked, dear. They start happening regardless of whether you want them to, yes?"

"...Yeah." It was about all she could say to that. "What, do ponies not have...?"

"Oh, we do." With a dramatic sigh. "There are times when I have been scandalized by the acts of my own tail and its choice of positioning. But that's entirely my point." She gestured toward Ember, the front leg moving up and down to indicate her entire body. "You said that you thought Spike didn't recognize the signals because he was raised by ponies, but he's very well-traveled and driven to learn. I think he noticed just fine, and understood. I think he just kept in mind one thing he did learn growing up with ponies." 

Rarity leaned forward, and the surprisingly fierce eye contact came with a set of firm words that Ember could easily see her hammering into the mind of an adolescent. "Body language is not consent."

"But he didn't react at all!" Ember protested. "He didn't even give the no signal to make me cool it, he just..." She froze. "He just..."

The realization sank in, and she sat there, mentally staring at the puzzle pieces having clicked together. 

Rarity nodded, and gave voice to the thoughts in her mind. "He didn't wish to tell you no. He was just waiting for a clear question to say yes to."

"He still could have said something!" she burst out. "I was sitting there burning a hole in the blanket!"

"And you could have said something as well." Rarity gave a small giggle and sheepish smile. "That is one other thing you could blame on us. A good gentlecolt waits for the lady to approach him first, at least in cases where there's a single lady and single gentlecolt involved, but it seems that dragons are a little more egalitarian?"

Ember distantly nodded to confirm that. Gender didn't have any effect on those kinds of things, and as much as she tried to keep in mind the ways that other species were different, it wasn't as if she'd really needed to consider how pony romance worked before.

She then placed her claws to her face, harmlessly raking them over her scales as she dragged them down and slumped in her seat. "So the whole time I could've gone for it?"

"Now Ember..." Rarity's voice was soft again. Sympathetic. "Ultimately, I can't read Spike's mind. I know him well, and so that's what I suspect based on how you described him acting. But I can't know for sure. And neither will you, until you ask."

"It'd be easier to hide in my cave for a month," Ember grumbled.

"But is that what you want to do?"

"...No." 

(She... reminds me a little of Mom.)

She prodded at her teacup. Definitely too cold, now. There wasn't a hint of steam left. "How'd you get so smart about this?"

"Trial and error. Emphasis on error. And in many ways, I'm still learning." Rarity gave a small laugh. "I could tell you stories."

Tempting, but the clock had been ticking, and time was up. "No, I'd... I'd better get going. I have dinner plans." She slowly got up. "But... thank you. For the talk."

"Anytime." Rarity offered a smile. "If it doesn't work out, you're welcome to come back. We'll open some tubs of Rocky Road ice cream, and I'll make sure to have one of the kind with actual rocks."

Ember, despite herself, smiled back. "I'd like that."

It took some effort to make her way to the boutique's door, the weight of what was coming bearing down on her with enough force that she wasn't entirely sure that she would be able to fly. She stretched her wings out anyway when she reached the outside, and it only took a few more flaps than usual to send her into the air.

Their friendship would survive this. 

No matter what else happened, she'd make sure of that.